


Your Heart in My Hands

by mysterious_song



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Iron Man AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 23:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20786969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysterious_song/pseuds/mysterious_song
Summary: A ficlet for Inspired by OQ for a marvellous movie poster by ThisIsAMadHouse for Iron Man.





	Your Heart in My Hands

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been in my WIPs for ages (a lot of my work on it was lost in a technology issue), but I was determined to get a thing written for it this time.

Robin lies back against the sofa, letting out a deep breath as he relishes in the peace and quiet. 

It’s been one hell of a week, and today feels like the first day that there’s no press conference or company meeting arranged. And so he’s going to enjoy the tranquility he currently has before it’s ruined. 

As his phone rings he weighs up whether murder would be a bad idea. Though his eyes fall to the callerID, and his irritation fades. 

It’s Regina. He finds he never seems to mind that much when it’s her. 

Her face looks up at him from his device on the table, that elusive but satisfying smile he worked so hard to capture gracing her lips. 

He allows himself a second to admire before he slides his thumb across to answer. 

Robin barely has time to greet  _ ‘hello’ _ before she’s letting out a frustrated: “Get down here, I need your help.” 

He doesn’t need to ask where - it’s a good job really; she hangs up before he can even utter a response - and so he makes his way over to the other side of the hall.

Within a minute Robin is climbing down the steps to the basement, pausing at the door with a frown on his face as he takes in the scene before him. 

He’s not sure what the hell is going on; if he was an outsider he’d assume it was the start of some horror movie. 

Regina’s lying on a reclining chair in the middle of the room, a bright light shining onto her body and illuminating the wires exposed by her half-attached chest piece. The table next to her has a selection of medical implements. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she assures him. 

He takes steps towards her, warily eyeing all the apparatus around her - whilst trying to ignore the fact she’s removed her shirt, leaving her in just a black sports bra. 

“What is all this?” He asks, gesturing to the mess she’s made from the parts and tools. 

“I’ve been tinkering, and I’ve upgraded this, to this,” she explains, pointing at her old chest piece that’s resting on the arm of her chair, and then a newer, improved version that’s partly connected. “I just…” 

Robin waits for her to finish her sentence, prompting her when she doesn’t. “You just what?” 

“I need your fingers.”

Robin sees the moment she realises what she’s just said, her eyes growing wide as she freezes. It’s a few seconds before she returns to herself, picking up the new piece and pretending nothing ever happened. 

“I needed to replace my old one, but I can’t get the angle and my fingers aren’t long enough.”

Robin looks at all the tools and wires lying about. “Isn’t this dangerous?” 

“Of course not.” 

As if she’d tell him if it was. 

“This is serious, though. Right?” 

“A little.” She downplays her answer, but Robin can see right through her, and so he stares her down. Funnily enough, after a moment, she averts her gaze and admits a quiet: “Yes.”

“This is what’s keeping you alive?” Robin sees her nod slightly, giving an affirmative  _ ‘mmhmm’ _ . “And you trust me with this?” 

Her face lifts to his and she looks so confused, as if it’s preposterous to ask such a thing. “I trust you with everything.”

Robin’s breath knocks out of him. It’s not often Regina admits to emotions, or faith in other people, and so hearing her say that… He doesn’t quite know how to respond. 

He almost wants to say something back, counter her declaration with one of his own, but he just can’t seem to find any words… So he decides to just get on with whatever is it that she needs him to do.

“How can I assist you, Milady?”

“There’s a wire at the base, I need you to get it.”

Robin takes a deep breath in, then slowly expels it. To say he’s not looking forward to this would be an understatement, but nevertheless, Robin unbuttons the cuff of his shirt and rolls up his sleeve. This whole thing is making him feel uneasy, it’s a lot of responsibility, and he is completely out of his depth here. 

But Regina needs his help, and so he takes a deep breath and reaches into the cavity where her heart is supposed to be. 

The metal is warm against his skin, but his fingertips soon encounter something wet and slimy, and he quickly withdraws back again. 

Regina rolls her eyes at him. “It’s fine, just a bit of lubricant.” 

She could have warned him about that beforehand. He’s already nervous about this, he doesn’t want any more surprises… 

“Is there anything else I should know about?”

“I’ll talk you through it, it’ll be fine.” 

Robin glares at her, but resumes his task nonetheless. He tries to ignore the texture of whatever fluid this is, and manages to trap the wire in question between two of his fingers. 

“Okay, now what do I do?” 

“Do you have the wire?” She asks, pausing to let him nod. “I need you to pull it out.  _ Gently _ .” 

“Okay.”

He traps his lip between his teeth in concentration, focussing on removing the wire and constantly glancing at Regina to make sure he’s not being too quick. 

“Don’t let the wire touch the-” her warning trails off with a pained groan, an electric crackle sounding from within her chest. Robin stills, panicked, letting Regina settle and let out a breathy: “side.”

Robin grimaces, offers a contrite ‘ _ apologies _ ’ as Regina lets out a soft chuckle. 

“I don’t think I should be doing this,” Robin worries, trying to wrack his brains for an alternative. “Isn’t there anybody else more qualified?”

“Nobody more so than you.”

Robin freezes again. This is the second time she’s said something that could be interpreted as sentimental. She’d been doing that a fair bit recently. Mainly to Roland, showering him with affection and trying to keep him close. It’s a potential side effect from her capture, he knows this. Doctors had warned him she may push people away, or try to keep them too close. She had dealt with it well, seeming stronger than everyone else had thought she would be. But he can still see how it has affected her, she’s changed in small ways. One of the ways he’s noticing is her being a little more liberal with admissions of feelings. 

He should be saying he wants her back to her usual self, but he has to admit; there’s something heartwarming about hearing she appreciates him and his company. 

It’s a good job really; he’s not sure he’d be doing this if she wasn’t giving him a little motivation every now and then. 

“Now what do I do?” Robin asks, realising he’s not done anything productive for a while - and has likely just been staring at Regina this whole time.

“Now, I need you to trim that wire, and reattach it to this,” she hands him a pair of wire cutters, and then holds up her new chest piece so he can see the loose wire that needs connecting. 

He reaches for the new piece, but forgets that he’s holding the wire in a very precarious place, and so it touches the side and delivers another shock to Regina. 

He hates that he’s the one responsible. He can’t do this anymore. He can’t cause her any more pain. “I’m sorry... I can’t-”

“Robin, do you trust me?” 

“Of course.”

“Then trust  _ yourself _ .” 

He steadies himself, trying to absorb some of the faith she has in him and using that to continue. He takes in a breath and lets out a sigh. “Okay.”

Regina’s hand comes up to rest over his, her thumb brushing over his skin as she promises him; “you’ve got this.”

He lets her touch ground him, and then he sets about doing as he’s told, letting Regina talk him through the reattachment and fixing the new piece in place. Within minutes it’s all back to normal, as if nothing had ever taken place. 

Well… except for the shiny gel coating his fingers. 

With a grimace, he reaches for the nearest cloth and wipes his hands. 

Regina slides off of the chair, standing straight and slipping her shirt over her shoulders. 

“Thanks, Robin.” 

“Any time.”

He watches her leave with a smile on his face, grateful that he has such a wonderful woman in his life. Then his gaze falls to the old chest piece he’s just helped to remove. He lifts it up to inspect it, the battered, make-shift device that is more important than words can describe. 

“What do I do with this?” He asks Regina, holding it up for her to see as he awaits the outcome.

She shrugs, waving a dismissing hand in the hair and advising: “dispose of it.” 

Robin frowns. “You don’t want it?” 

“Why would I?” She inquires, seemingly confused about it all. “Haven’t you heard? I’m heartless.” 

Regina points towards a stack of newspapers, the one she uses to keep track of friends and enemies in the press. A couple of the articles had called her some rather harsh words, going so far as to say she is ‘morally corrupt with no heart or soul’. 

Robin furiously disagrees of course - and Regina didn’t seem that fussed about it either - but now she’s mentioned it again, Robin wonders if perhaps it got to her more than she let on. Still, he technically holds her heart in his hands right now, and he’d fight whoever dares to question if she has one. 

She has a bigger heart than most people realise. 

And the world almost lost her. 

It suddenly occurs to Robin that this piece of technology in his hand is the very reason she is still alive. There is no way he could ever dispose of this. He wants to take care of it, take care of  _ her _ , and as he watches her potter about the basement with a smile on his face, he can’t help but think that she holds his heart too. 


End file.
